Both hotels were previously under international hotels chain Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza, now directly managed by Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) said SEDC chairman Datuk Talip Zulpilip.

He said the corporation is now focusing on luring domestic holidaymakers to spend their holidays in Sarawak at SEDC hotels.

“Just like anybody else, we are also worried about next year (this year) as people do not travel as much any more due to the worsening world economy.

“But we are counting on domestic tourism … people who used to go overseas for holidays, who might now want to have holidays in Sarawak. This is what we are working hard on these days,” he said.

Talip said this after launching Damai Beach Resort’s I-Privilege Card on Tuesday night. Damai Beach Resort and Damai Puri Resort in Santubong, which were previously under the international Holiday Inn chain, are now also under the direct management of SEDC.

The other hotels which SEDC is a shareholder are the Grand Mulu Resort at Mulu National Park and the Everly ParkCity hotels Bintulu and Miri.

He added that SEDC would retain all staff at Grand Margherita Hotel and Riverside Majestic Hotel, brushing away suggestions of any retrenchments following the direct management exercise.